Advances in identifying archaeological traces of horn and other keratinous hard tissues

TY - JOUR

T1 - Advances in identifying archaeological traces of horn and other keratinous hard tissues

AU - O'Connor, Sonia

AU - Solazzo, Caroline

AU - Collins, Matthew

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Despite being widely utilized in the production of cultural objects, keratinous hard tissues, such as horn, baleen, and tortoiseshell, rarely survive in archaeological contexts unless factors combine to inhibit biodeterioration. Even when these materials do survive, working, use, and diagenetic changes combine to make identification difficult. This paper reviews the chemistry and deterioration of keratin and past approaches to the identification of keratinous archaeological remains. It describes the formation of horn, hoof, baleen, and tortoiseshell and demonstrates how identification can be achieved by combining visual observation under low-power magnification with an understanding of the structure and characteristic deterioration of these materials. It also demonstrates how peptide mass fingerprinting of the keratin can be used to identify keratinous tissues, often to species, even when recognizable structural information has not survived.

AB - Despite being widely utilized in the production of cultural objects, keratinous hard tissues, such as horn, baleen, and tortoiseshell, rarely survive in archaeological contexts unless factors combine to inhibit biodeterioration. Even when these materials do survive, working, use, and diagenetic changes combine to make identification difficult. This paper reviews the chemistry and deterioration of keratin and past approaches to the identification of keratinous archaeological remains. It describes the formation of horn, hoof, baleen, and tortoiseshell and demonstrates how identification can be achieved by combining visual observation under low-power magnification with an understanding of the structure and characteristic deterioration of these materials. It also demonstrates how peptide mass fingerprinting of the keratin can be used to identify keratinous tissues, often to species, even when recognizable structural information has not survived.

KW - horn

KW - hoof

KW - baleen

KW - tortoiseshell

KW - mineral preservation

KW - Mass spectrometry

KW - Keratin

KW - Peptide mass fingerprint (PMF)

U2 - 10.1179/2047058414Y.0000000134

DO - 10.1179/2047058414Y.0000000134

M3 - Article

SN - 0039-3630

JO - Studies in Conservation

JF - Studies in Conservation

ER -